The British Army’s most senior office in Northern Ireland, Brigadier Andrew Rowe, submitted a formal request for the Ammunition Technical Officers after they dismantled 119 different primed bombs over a two year period.

A senior military source told The Sun: “The SRR CO thought his guys should get some reward.

PSNI

A hoard of explosives were found in Lurgan, Northern Ireland last year

“Their under cover work is very difficult and dangerous, and they have to live behind the wire in tough conditions just like we had to in the worst days of the Troubles.”

The source added: “The irony is nobody would even have known about their general service medals as they’re SF, so it’s pathetic they have been refused.”